Built in 1904 and first occupied by the John Breuner Furniture Company, the Wilson building at 973 Market Street withstood the Great Quake in 1906 but was gutted by the accompanying fire.

Having since housed various retailers, schools, manufacturers and a Taco Bell, the restoration and conversion of the building into 67 apartments and lofts is nearly complete and “The Wilson” is now pre-leasing with the first move-ins scheduled for this June.

A mix of studios, one-bedrooms, two-bedrooms and lofts, the Mid-Market building is being topped with a 2,000 square foot roof deck and dog walk.

Imagine the conversations in 1904… “This is contributing to the Chicagification of San Francisco! Why, the shadows will reach all the way across Market Street at certain times of day! And only 10 hitching posts? Balderdash! The city should require at least 25 hitching post, as well as an on-site hay stall.”

(Of course in actuality, people in 1904 were thrilled to see buildings like this one going up – it was a sign of progress, of growth, of a burgeoning future. A spirit that we’ve lost in the intervening century – if this were proposed today, it undoubtedly *would* be opposed as being too tall and garish. Sigh.)

I used to work in the building next door (989). The project was started before the last bust, and I’m pretty sure at the time it was being developed for condos. Then *kapow* bottom dropped out, and the project was abandoned. We were on the top floor at 989, and folks were entering this building, getting on the roof, jumping over to the roof of our building and breaking in via the staircase or, in one situation, the skylight at our building to steal laptops. This would have been circa 2009ish. Will definitely say that I’m glad I don’t work in that part o’ town anymore. I still go by there daily on my way to work now, and it certainly isn’t THAT much improved.

6th and market has improved immensely. The Warfield Building’s renovation changes the whole character (at least aesthetically). It’s still skid row down there, and probably will be forever. The SROs aren’t going anywhere. Seems like the worst ones are privately owned by slumlords, though. If they were managed as nonprofit care facilities, or at least forced to comply with building and safety codes, it would help a lot.

It would certainly help this area if the would get Market Street Place going–they’ve cleared the site but no sign of construction which, I assume, means they won’t build without an anchor tenant. That, in turn, seriously risks missing this building cycle.